Molding flask clamp



Sept. 26, 1944. F

MOLDING FLASK CLAM Filed Aug. 28, 1942 'llllllll Tllllllll rroezyzys.

Patented Sept. 26, 1944 ErnestiHuff, Elm; Grove; ,Wisl, assignontmwehrSteel. Company, West Allis, ,Wis., a; corporation,

of Wisconsin;

, np iicationnugusezs, 1942,- Serial o, 456, 472

3 Claim.-

This invention relates" generally to. improvements in the art" ofmolding, and relates. more. specifically to improvements in theconstruction and operation-of rigsforclampingmolding flasks.

or 't-he liketo supports such-as. the pattern sup: porting-plates-of'roll over molding machines. I

'An-object of thepresent invention is to provide.

a new'and useful molding flaskclamp; whichv is simple in constructionand highly eflicient in operation;

Many difierent types; of clamping; assemblages ior=detachablyattachingmoldingrfiasks to the. pattern supporting plates". of, roll. overmolding.

machines such asare employedin foundries, have heretofore" beenproposedandlused with varying degrees of success. In order" to function.efiec tively; this kindof equipment must. be quickly operable: to firmlyclamp: and to release flasks. of; various sizes and shapeasoias toavoid,loss of time, andthe. clamping rig; should also; bevconstructed-anddisposedso as. to prevent interfering with the moldingoperations, pressure operated clamps have been used. in, the past; thesepriordevices were relatively complicated and. positioned at the sidesorends. ofthe pattern supports. where they werev not only. ob-

structive, but could notbe universally appliedto. differentparts'oftheopposite portions of flasks, ofvarious depthsand' the utility of. such.prior. power clamps was therefore relatively limited, In" order toenhance the usefulness. of these flask.

clamping and releasing assemblies to amaximum, they should'be extremelypowerful in action, com.-

pact and durable in. structure and confined. to: non-interferinglocalities, readily. applicable. to: various types of pattern supports,protected, against injury. but open toready inspectiomand.cooperablewith the opposite side portions of deep, or shallowfiasksthroughout a considerable range of; lateral adjustment.

It is, therefore a more specific object; ofmy present inventionto-provide an. improved fluid; pressure.- actuated molding:-fiaskz;.clampi which.

meets all. of the; above mentioned requirements,

and which is: extremely fiexible-inits adaptationsand uses;-

Another'specific object'of the present invention istaprovide an improvedmolding flask clamping system which can be readily applied to eithernewor old molding machines of various standard types at moderate cost, andwhich may be safely and conveniently manipulated tov meet. varying.

conditions of" operation and user These and other specific objects andadvantages of the presentimprovement: will be'appar ent from thefollowingdescription.

A clear-conception of one embodiment of the present invention, and ofthe construction and operation of a molding flask clamping rig'built inaccordance with the improvement, may be hadby'referring to the drawingaccompanying and forming a part of this specificationwhereinlike-referencecharacters designatethe same or similar parts in thevarious views.

Fig; I is a somewhat diagrammatic partsec tional side elevation of aconventional roll over pattern support and inverting bracket, showing" amold disposed thereon and having the improved! flask clamping systemapplied thereto;

Fig; 2 is a bottom View of the assemblage of Fig. 1, showing thedisposition of the-improved flask clamping system, and with the fluiddistribution and control'apparatus shown diagrammatically; and

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section through a,

fragmentof one side of the assemblage shown in Figs; 1 and-2.

While the invention has been illustrated herein aszbeingspecifically-embodied in an air pressure actuated clamping assemblageapplied to apar ticular type of roll over moldingmachine, it is. not? mydesire-or intent to unnecessarily restrict the scope or utility oftheimprovement by virtue of' such specific embodiment.

to permit packing of the sand about the pattern either: by highavelocityinjection thereof into the; upper open end of the flask, or; by loosedeposition ofithe sand within the flask and subsequent-jolt-. ing; and'my: present invention is applicable to bothof these types of machines.

Referring to-the drawing, the conventional roll:

overmolding machine specifically illustrated therein is of the highvelocity sand injection type,

and: comprises a, pattern support or supporting.

plate 5' fixedly mounted-upon the swinging-end of: an inverting bracket'6 :which is suspended from apivot I, and havinga series of,parallelrecesses; 8 therein for effecting-rigid attachment of apattern 9thereto with the aid of bolts) or the like. The successive molding'fiasks I l withinwhichthe molds I2 are-formed, are adapted to bepositioned upon the supporting plate 5 about the pat? tern 9.while themechanism is in the positionshown in Fig. 1, andwith the parts thuspositionedthe sand may be. packed about the pattern in any well knownmanner. Upon completion of each mold I2, the supporting plate Swiththe;

flask H and mold l2 firmly secured thereto must Molding machines. of:the-roll over class, are ordinarily:- constructed normally be inverted,whereupon the flask should be released for final withdrawal of thepattern 9 from the mold l2. After the draw, the plate and. bracket 6should be returned to molding position for the reception of anotherflask II, and the. shape and depth of these flasks I l varies throughouta considerable range depending upon the size and shape of the patterns 9which are being used. Since the flasks H and molds l2 are relativelylarge and heavy, these mold assemblages must be rigidly but releasablyattached to the pattern support in order to prevent possible shifting ordistortion of the molds during inversion, and this invention dealsprimarily with the construction and operation of an improved rig foreffecting such attachment and release of the flask and mold relative tothe pattern support.

The present improved clamping and releasing system or rig, comprises ingeneral a pair of fluid I pressure actuated motors l4 each having acyl--' inder I5 fixedly suspended beneath the pattern supporting plate5, and a piston l6 reciprocable within its cylinder l5 and provided witha piston rod ll; a pair of flexible elongated elements or cables 18 eachhaving one end swingably attached to one of the piston rods [1, whileits medial portion is adapted to coact with a rotary guiding member orsheave [9 also suspended beneath and near an edge of thesupporting plate5; a clamping device or hook 20 swingably connected to the oppositefreely swinging end of each cable l8, these devices being cooperablewith the opposite sides of a flask ll resting upon the plate 5; andmeans for simultaneously operating the motors M to pull on the cables l8and to release the pulls or tension thereon, including a control valve2| and fluid distribution piping 22,23.

The motors l4 while being simultaneously operable, are reverselydisposed, and the cylinders l5 of these motors are arrangedapproximatelyparallel to each other and may be fixedly suspended either from thebracket 6 or directly from the bottom of the pattern supporting plate 5at any convenient location, by means of brackets or otherwise. Themotors I4 may be operated by compressed air or other suitable fluidunder pressure derivedfrom any suitable source, and the strokes of thepistons I6 and rods i! should be sufficient to permit movement of thehooks 29 throughout a considerable range. The opposite ends of theelongated flexible elements or cables l8 may be swingably and durablyconnected to the rods I l and hooks 20 by means of loop connectors 26,and the guide sheaves l9 are freely rotatable in brackets 21 which mayalso be suspended either from the bracket 6 or directly from the plate5, near the opposite edges of the latter as shown. The clamping hooks 20are of conventional design, and may be replaced by any other type ofclamping device, and due to the flexibility of their carrying cables 18,these clamps are freely universally movable and adjustable throughoutextended areas above the pattern support. When the hooks 20 are inaction as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, they preferably coact with oppositeside portions of the flask ll as indicated in Fig. 2, and firmly retainthe flask H in predetermined position upon the plate 5; but when thetension on the cables I8 is released and the clamping devices areremoved from the Work, the hooks 20 may be dropped below the patternsupport, thus avoiding all flxed obstructions disposed above the upperpattern supporting surface of the plate 5.

' 20 to either deep or shallow flasks l lof different;

The control valve 2| for effecting manual control of the fluid pressureactuated clamping system, may be located at a conveniently accessibleplace near the roll over machine controls, and is adapted tosimultaneously admit fluid such as air under pressure from a supply line28 to either set of corresponding piston displacement chambers of themotors I4, while at the same time releasing-the pressure fromthe'o'ppos'ed displacement' chambers of these motors through an exhaustline 29. If clamping action is desired, the

'valve 2| should be set as illustrated in Fig. 2, I thereby admittingfluid pressure to the adjacent or front displacement chambers throughthe piping 23, while at the same time permitting escape of fluid fromthe rear displacement chammatically for the sake of .clearness, andshould preferably permit independent initial adjustment or positioningof the pistons l6 and rods IT.

The normal use and operation of the improved mold flask clamping ringshould be clearly apparent from the foregoing detaileddescription of itsconstruction, from which it should also be apparent that my presentinvention provides an improved clamping assemblage. which is simple,compact and durable in construction, and which. is also powerful andhighly eflicient in operation. The fluid pressure actuated servo-motorsl5 may obviously be readilydisposed in any convenient locality beneaththe pattern supporting plate 5, thereby avoiding obstructions above thisplate, and the flexible cables l8 and swing connectors 26 permit readyapplication of the clamping hooks sizes and shapes, at the localitieswhere the clamps will act most effectively. The improved clampingassembly while being well protected against possible damage duringnormal use of the,

molding machine, is also readily accessible for inspection andmanipulation, and the improved device is obviously highly flexible initsiadaptations and uses. The guide sheaves l9 effectively protect theflexible cables I8 against abrupt bending and possible resultant damage,and also facili-; tate lateral adjustment of the clamping hooks 20 inall directions above the pattern table. The use of compressible fluidfor actuating the motors I4 is not essential 'buthighly desirable sinceit permits simplification of these motors and also per units automaticequalization of the tension in the cables I8 and distribution of thestresses on the clamping rig. The improved power clamping system can bemanufactured and applied to various types of molding machinesatmoderate' cost, may be quickly and safely operated to either clam orrelease the successive flasks II, and has proven highly satisfactory andefficientin actual use.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit this inventionto the exact details of construction, or to the precise mode ofoperation of the molding flask clamp, herein shown and described, forvarious modifications within the scope of the appended claims may occurto persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

support, a fluid pressure actuated motor having a' cylinder suspendedfrom and beneath said support and a piston movable within the cylinder,a peri-pherally grooved wheel joumalled for, rotation upon said supportso that the axis of said piston is approximately tangent to one portionof the wheel groove and another portion of the latter is disposedslightly beyond an edge of the support, a flexible cable having one endsecured to said piston and its opposite end universally movable abovesaid support while its medial portion is cooperable with said wheelgroove to provide a bending zone for the cable, and a clamping hookmovably secured to said universally movable cable end. a V

2. A molding flask clamp, comprising, a flask support, several fluidpressure actuated motors each having a cylinder suspended from andbeneath said support and a piston movable within its cylinder, severalperipherally grooved wheels joumalled for rotation upon said support,each of said wheels cooperating with one of said motors so that the axisof the motor piston is approximately tangent to one portion of the wheelgroove and another portion of the latter is disposed slightly beyond theadjacent edge of the support, a. flexible cable cooperating with eachmotor and wheel set and having one end secured to the correspondingpiston and its opposite end universally movable above said support whileits medial portion is cooperable with the corresponding wheel groove toprovide a bending zone for the cable, and a clamping hook movablysecured to the universally movable end of each cable.

3. A molding flask clamp, comprising, a flask support, several fluidpressure actuated motors each having a cylinder suspended from andbeneath said support and a piston movable within its cylinder, severalperipherally grooved wheels journalled for rotation upon said support,each of said Wheels cooperating with one of said motors so that the axisof the motor piston is approximately tangent to one portion of the wheelgroove and another portion of the latter is disposed slightly beyond theadjacent edge of the support, a flexible cable cooperating with eachmotor and wheel set and having one end secured to the correspondingpiston and its opposite end universally movable above said support whileits medial por-

